Pereira & O’Dell has introduced for Skype four short stories for its “Stay Together” campaign that focus on family and friends keeping in touch over long distances. Their accounts are wildly different, heartfelt approaches to living apart from loved ones.
The first of the series,“The Impossible Family Portrait” tells the story of Denis who is separated from his home in Uganda but keeps in touch with his family and adopted son over Skype.“The Animal Family Portrait” is a unique story of a zookeeper whose work visa had run out in Australia and visits with her animal friends at the wildlife park via Skype. “The Growing Up Family Portrait” introduces 10-year-old Julia, who keeps up with her 12-year-old cousin in Brazil and shows just how delicate staying together can be at that age to avoid growing apart.
The fourth of the series, titled “The Born Friends Family Portrait,” comes from an online call for real stories at skype.com/staytogether that asked people to share their stories of how they stay together with Skype. The most remarkable was that of Sarah from Nappanee, Indiana, about her unique friendship with Paige from Auckland, New Zealand.
For each story, Singaporean photographer and visual artist John Clang captures these family portraits with a photograph where everyone is able to pose shoulder-to-shoulder…or hand-to-paw, or ballet-slipper-to-sneaker, through a Skype projection on the wall. The result is a uniquely special family portrait that joins loved ones in the real and digital world. The spots were shot and directed by Station collective Peking, the directing duo of Nat Livingston Johnson and Gregory Mitnick.